Speaking in Brussels after two days of talks in Baghdad and Irbil, US Secretary of State John Kerry Wednesday warned Mideast nations against taking new military action in Iraq that might heighten sectarian divisions. Kerry plans to visit Saudi Arabia Friday for talks with the king about the Iraqi crisis.

An Iraqi official said (on condition of anonymity) that Iraq’s neighbors, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, were all bolstering flights just inside their airspace to monitor the situation in Iraq.